Craig Kessler‘s first trip to Coachella Valley as the newly appointed LPGA Tour commissioner could mean a lot of things. As he stood there at the Indian Wells Golf Resort, watching the Epson Tour Championship’s season finale, the aesthetics bore deep into him. The Santa Rosa mountains framing the course, the crisp October weather, and the welcoming enthusiasm of the local golf community. Now, the idea of returning the LPGA Tour to the valley seems intriguing to him.

“This backdrop and this golf course—this is pretty special,” he said. “This valley has an incredibly rich history in women’s golf. If we have the opportunity with the right partners and the right golf course to do something here, it would be music to our ears.”

Three years ago, its signature major, the Chevron Championship, ended its relationship with the valley and departed for Texas from its iconic Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage. What stood out to him was Indian Wells’ “world-class facilities, exceptional weather window, and passionate golf community.” So impressed was he by it all that immediate discussions and meetings with city officials and sponsors were “definitely put on the table.”

“I had a chance to spend some time with city officials today, and obviously, I’ve been with Epson leadership the last few days,” he said after the event, which saw Anne Cheon winning her first career victory. “It is an amazing partnership. I think the city loves having us here; we are grateful to have partners like them. And Epson, none of this happens without them.”

The Epson Tour Championship started its partnership with the Valley in 2008, and ever since, it has been fruitful. However, the major attraction has always been the main LPGA event that has been held there. The desert had a 51-year run as the home of one of women’s golf’s most iconic tournaments.

From 1972 to 2022, the Valley hosted one of the LPGA’s five major championships. Founded by entertainer Dinah Shore as the Colgate Dinah Shore, the Chevron Championship gained major status in 1983. Then, it saw various sponsors: Nabisco, Kraft, ANA, and Chevron. The winner’s leap to the “Poppie Pond” was the tradition there. But their glorious run eventually ended due to the new sponsorship deal. Attendance in the desert had declined, and the LPGA wanted more television coverage and financial security, which they gained through the Texas market. Hence, the event moved to Houston, with a bigger purse of $5 million.

But if the talks mentioned by Craig Kessler do take place, a potential return will be possible. The next steps will likely include detailed site visits, checking the appropriate venue—Indian Wells and La Quinta Resort could be the competitors—and rounds of several meetings.

Should everything align, the LPGA could make its official return to the Valley as soon as the 2027 season. But this move will not come without an already rooted skepticism.

Scheduling challenges loom over the LPGA

The LPGA Tour already has a condensed schedule on the chart, an issue that both players and insiders, as well as Craig Kessler himself, have flagged. Just a month ago, he described the scheduling as “critical” and “complex.” Such an acknowledgement arose from him due to the many continent-hopping shifts and back-to-back events.

The LPGA’s current calendar opens with two events in Florida, then it’s off to Asia, then comes back to the States, and then finally again in Asia for its final leg. To put it simply, the tour spans 14 US states and 11 countries overall. And this is after several new events are added to the calendar, including one in Utah and another in Mexico.

Another instance is the grueling events that players have to face. The Dow Championship and Meijer LPGA Classic in Michigan are held back-to-back. This stretch packs three majors into just six weeks, leaving the players little to no time for recovery.

“When we’re on the West Coast, having a flow in the West Coast schedule, having all our events aligned so we’re not traveling from coast to coast in the U.S., would help,” said Nelly Korda, who has been a vocal critic of the condensed scheduling in the past, often prioritizing her health.

“The schedule is critical,” Kessler said. “But it’s not solvable overnight because you’re locked into geographies and multiyear agreements, and you can’t unwind everything at once. But as we think about ’27, ’28, and ’29, we see a path to something even better than where we are for next year.”

So if Craig Kessler is playing with the idea of bringing back an event to the Coachella Valley, he will have to think through the logistical impact the decision will pose on the overall Tour.